Las Curanderas: From Ashes, We Rise

Curators Statement

As self-taught Latina artists, we understand art as more than an act of creation. Our own artistic journeys have been shaped by intuition, ancestry, and the desire to tell stories that have too often gone unseen. These shared values inspired us to curate Las Curanderas: From Ashes, We Rise.

Created during a time marked by political injustice, violence against our communities, and collective resistance, this exhibition brings together Latina artists from across Wisconsin whose work reflects the many ways we heal, care for one another, and transform. The call for art was inspired by María la Curandera by Natalia Lafourcade, particularly the lyric, “Que los queme el fuego, que los queme el fuego y vengan nuevas flores” (“Let the fire burn them, let the fire burn them, and may new flowers emerge”).

The song honors the Curandera. She is more than a healer. She is a protector, a storyteller, a memory keeper, and a visionary. She is our abuelitas, our tías, our mothers, the women who mended generations without ever being called healers. This exhibition honors that lineage and extends it. Each artist is beautifully singular, yet together they reveal our collective power to alchemize destruction into hope, grief into power, and ashes into bloom.

Through painting, sculpture, photography, beadwork, and mixed media, the artists share lived experiences shaped by migration, motherhood, ancestry, identity, loss, joy, and love. Together, their works offer distinct perspectives on what it means to be a Latina artist in Wisconsin, revealing the power of art to make visible what has been silenced and to cultivate belonging and hope.

This exhibition is more than a collection of artworks. It is a ceremony of healing, resistance, and belonging, created by Latina artists, for Latina artists, and shared with all who are willing to witness. Here, grief is acknowledged, resilience is honored, and hope continues to bloom. May these works remind us that even after the fire, new flowers can emerge from the ashes.

Jessica M. Gutiérrez and Issis Macias

Curators